For the past few months I have been working on this project I call Spinning Up in Unreal. The goal for this project was to create a virtual environment using the Unreal Engine Editor. The Unreal Engine is used mostly to create games, and these games are exported from the Unreal Editor to an independent folder from which the game can be run through its own process.
My project will look almost like a game. It opens in its own window from an independent and puts players in a 3D environment, but it is a virtual environment, not a game, meaning it follows different criteria than a game.
The criteria are as follows: the project must be able to connect multiple players into the same space, the project must give every player a unique identity and avatar within the space, the project must allow players to affect the space and their effects should persist, and finally, the project must allow the players to communicate with each other.
These criteria are met in the following ways.
My project can be launched as a listen server. Running the project as a listen server will open a space that also, in the background, is listening for other players. The server is associated with an IP address, that other players can point their instances of my project to the listen server's address, which will allow them to connect to each other.
Once connected, players will be represented in the world by a 3D character. The 3D character will be the same for each player except for a name tag, which will hover above the player and will be chosen by the player and will be unique if the players want. The name tags allow players to identify each other.
The 3D characters will spawn in a 3D room. Inside the room, along with other players, there will also be a ball. This ball is part of the environment, and it is the part of the environment that I have made changeable, meaning players can move the ball around by running into it. Players and even the server can close their instances of the project, even at the same time, and when they restart it, the ball will appear in the position that it was left in.
Finally, players in the space can communicate with each other via a chat system. They press t, type their message, press enter, and then their message is broadcast by the server to all the clients.
by Cuauhtemoc Sanchez
For the past few months I have been working on this project I call Spinning Up in Unreal. The goal for this project was to create a virtual environment using the Unreal Engine Editor. The Unreal Engine is used mostly to create games, and these games are exported from the Unreal Editor to an independent folder from which the game can be run through its own process.
My project will look almost like a game. It opens in its own window from an independent and puts players in a 3D environment, but it is a virtual environment, not a game, meaning it follows different criteria than a game.
The criteria are as follows: the project must be able to connect multiple players into the same space, the project must give every player a unique identity and avatar within the space, the project must allow players to affect the space and their effects should persist, and finally, the project must allow the players to communicate with each other.
These criteria are met in the following ways.
My project can be launched as a listen server. Running the project as a listen server will open a space that also, in the background, is listening for other players. The server is associated with an IP address, that other players can point their instances of my project to the listen server's address, which will allow them to connect to each other.
Once connected, players will be represented in the world by a 3D character. The 3D character will be the same for each player except for a name tag, which will hover above the player and will be chosen by the player and will be unique if the players want. The name tags allow players to identify each other.
The 3D characters will spawn in a 3D room. Inside the room, along with other players, there will also be a ball. This ball is part of the environment, and it is the part of the environment that I have made changeable, meaning players can move the ball around by running into it. Players and even the server can close their instances of the project, even at the same time, and when they restart it, the ball will appear in the position that it was left in.
Finally, players in the space can communicate with each other via a chat system. They press t, type their message, press enter, and then their message is broadcast by the server to all the clients.